GMR Energy's stake sale of GMR Kamalanga Energy to JSW Energy put on hold

The divestment transaction for the sale of GMR Energy's entire stake in GMR Kamalanga Energy Ltd to JSW Energy has been put on hold on account of outbreak of COVID-19, according to a regulatory filing.

In February, JSW Energy had signed a share purchase agreement to acquire 100 per cent of GMR Kamalanga Energy, which owns and operates a 1,050 MW (3x350 MW) thermal power plant in Odisha, for Rs 5,321 crore (subject to working capital and other adjustments).

"The transaction has been put on hold due to the outbreak of the pandemic COVID-19 and nationwide lockdown, and will be revisited once the situation normalises," GMR Infrastructure - the parent company of GMR Energy - said in a filing to BSE on Thursday.

The company said that even in these hard times, with demand falling across the country, the pithead plant of GMR Kamalanga Energy is fully operational, adding that the government announcing series of reforms along with Rs 90,000-crore package to discoms for easing liquidity is a step in the right direction for the power sector.

GMR Kamalanga Energy, a subsidiary of GMR Energy, owns and operates three units of 350 MW capacity at Dhenkanal in Odisha.

The shares of GMR Infrastructure were trading at Rs 17.45 a piece on BSE in morning trade, up 0.87 per cent from their previous close.